Former ski coach Bertrand Charest, convicted of numerous charges of sexual assault against his students, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Friday.

With time served, Charest is facing seven years and 10 months in prison.

Crown prosecutor Caroline Lafleur praised the sentence.

"I think it sends a message that adults that have the chance to be in those kinds of situations of power have to take that into consideration and be careful, because it is a crime," she said. “This is the sentence that we asked to the judge so he followed us regarding the denunciation and the importance of those types of crimes and the consequences on the victims.”

Pre-sentencing reports showed Charest still blamed others for his behaviour and displayed little empathy for his victims.

“These victims have lived for 25 years with many health issues and must still follow all kinds of therapy," the judge wrote,” the Justice Sylvain Lépine wrote.

Lépine also took aim at Charest's former employer, Alpine Canada, accusing them of turning a blind eye towards Charest's behaviour and for attempting to cover up the scandal.

"Alpine Canada and its leaders completely failed in their role of guardian and protector for these young athletes... They closed their eyes and chose not to believe these young women and hide the truth," he wrote.

In a statement after the initial verdict in June, Alpine Canada said the abuse of power had no place in sport or in society in general.

Defence attorney Antonio Cabral said his client was unable to express his true feelings due to legal strategy. Charest has appealed all 37 counts of which he was found guilty, Cabral alleging the judge in his case committed several errors during the trial.

"Since the moment we went on appeal, Mr. Charest was holding back certain thoughts... because he couldn't be totally open in the evaluations. The regrets and the remorses didn't come out the way they should have and they came out late," he said. "Mr. Charest does not recognize the whole of the allegations. He recognizes some of the allegations, he made a statement to police. He did not express remorse towards victims he didn't recognize committing infractions against."

Cabral claims there were mitigating factors.

“The mitigating factors were according to me those were facts that were committed a long time ago, about 25 years ago,” adding, “It was also the fact that Mr. Charest didn't have any criminal record.”

Charest was found guilty in June of charges involving nine of the 12 plaintiffs who accused him of assaulting them 20 years ago. All but one of the victims were under the age of 18 at the time, with the youngest being 12 years old.

Lafleur had asked for a 12-year sentence for Charest, while Cabral had asked for four-to-six years in prison.

Charest could have been sentenced to a maximum of 14 years.

Last month, several of the victims testified about the impact the assaults had on their lives. One of them told the court that Charest had stolen her childhood and had acted as a “true predator.”

Another tearfully spoke of living with “a sense of shame, guilt and disgust.”

The former coach didn’t testify at his trial, during which he was charged with 57 counts of sexual assault and sexual exploitation, as well as a charge of sexual assault causing bodily harm.

He was acquitted on 18 of the charges and the judge ruled the Court of Quebec didn’t have jurisdiction in two other charges related to events that occurred abroad.

Several of the incidents occurred before and after Charest coached at Alpine Canada between the years 1996 and 1998.